Gleich Aluminium installs new panel cutting saw to improve processing efficiency

Gleich Aluminium has installed a new fm 8 panel cutting system from IMA Schelling at its facility in Kaltenkirchen, Germany, replacing its existing saw. It completed the installation in three weeks while maintaining ongoing operations.

The company selected the new system for its short throughput times, component layout, and readiness for further automation. Gleich employs 150 people and produces around 20,000 tonnes of aluminium annually.

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Gleich Managing Director Sebastian Ricken said the decision came down to design details and cost-effectiveness, as competing systems offered similar performance. He said, “The way the system now stands in the hall and how the individual components are arranged delivers the shortest possible throughput processes.”

Gleich’s online business, which serves more than 10,000 customers in Germany alone, supports the system’s automated processing workflow. When orders arrive through the webshop, software groups hundreds of orders by material thickness and calculates an optimal cutting pattern before processing begins. This helps reduce the scrap rate to below 10 per cent.

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The cutting data is transferred directly to the machine, while robots automatically sort the cut parts and assign them to individual customer orders.

The system is reported to have been prepared for further automation.

IMA Schelling’s Product Manager, Dieter Zucalli, said, “Our integrated labelling solution enables dynamic marking of the workpieces in parallel with the loading and cutting process, completely without time loss.” 

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